One of the revelations of the age is what DNA can do once released from its biological role in the cell. DNA as a nano material came to fame in 2006 when nano smileys made form it graced the cover of Nature magazine. Since then it has twisted into every shape under the sun. Now a Korean/American/Japanese team, based at Cornell has produced a DNA shape memory gel. Hydrogels are jelly-like materials made mostly of water with large, filamentous molecules holding it together. On removing water from the DNA hydrogel it collapses and behaves like a liquid. It’s the floppiest gel ever made. But it can be shaped and when water is added it returns to the shape give it. In cycles of collapse and regrowth it always returns to the original shape. The researchers demonstrated this by writing its own name in the hydrogel and letting the letters reform form the “liquid” state. Practical DNA technologies are under development, such as drug delivery systems, but for now the substance is wowing us all over again, as a purely technical material. Nature Nanotechnology, 2012, 7, 816-820.

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